Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn

25 reviews

wyrmwood's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Sir Philip deserves to be castrated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Gaslighting

adelaparra's review

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

walkingcha0s's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism

zeynus's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

mariskyjy's review

Thought I would grow to like Eloise's love interest after hearing more of his back story, but I can't stand him.

Tw: noncon, child abuse, mention of post partum depression below

• said he hadn't had sex in a long time and went to visit wife marina. "She didn't say no," (I think the implication was PPD) but seemed disinterested. He felt awful afterwards, which is a *great* excuse (sarcasm)

• the kids are terrified of him. "His" son asks, upon getting in trouble, "are you going to hit us?" And Philip is a menacing presence to them, and doesn't know how to parent them. Like even if you have never hit your kid(s) (which Eloise is convinced that she's *such* a good judge of character, despite only meeting this guy within the last week, that Phillip could *never* abuse his kids), they shouldn't be terrified that you're going to. End of sentence. No, wait: fuck this guy. Now end of sentence.

• spoiler, the "reasoning" for this is eventually that his father was horribly abusive towards him, and Phillip is trying not to be like him. Cool reason, bro. I get that therapy was not a huge thing back then (assuming) but my god. Work on yourself to not be like your father.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

esv_'s review

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Grief

htbaumtree's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

I don't actually go here, I just enjoy Claudia Jessie's portrayal of Eloise on the Netflix show, which is probably why I was so disappointed in this story.

I think in the hands of a better writer all the disparate plot points, of which there are MANY--

Phillip's abusive father, the death of his father and his brother, his fear of becoming abusive like his father, his subsequent neglect of his children, his neglect resulting in the opportunity for his children to be secretly abused by their nanny, and of course his irrevocable horniness that he's been sublimating for almost a decade because of his wife Marina's severe depression, not to mention his wife's drawn out suicide, and that's BEFORE we get into Eloise's bag of issues like her increasing loneliness that drove her to accept the proposal of a man she never met and her suddenly being thrown into the deep end of (step)motherhood

--all of that could have been successfully incorporated into a well-woven narrative by an expert author. But as it is, even allowing for a healthy dose of melodrama due to the genre, the execution is so lacking that as I reader I was wondering why Quinn felt it necessary to cram quite so many drama points into one novel when her skills are simply not up to the task. Phillip could have been a far more tragic, sympathetic and noble character, but instead he often comes off as a whiny man-baby who wants a mommy-wife to fix his life for him. And Eloise isn't much better: other than some surface-level traits like impatience, chattiness, impulsiveness, and a go-getter attitude, she often comes off as one-note or 2D. 

I'm ultimately just disappointed. A semi-arranged marriage like this with an epistolary courtship can be incredibly romantic and swoon-worthy if done right. It just so happens that it wasn't done right in "To Sir Phillip, With Love".

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

ghostmomxoxo's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol and Classism

britwalsh16's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Book Eloise & TV Show Eloise are very different. I have trouble imagining TV Eloise running away from home for a possible husband. But I do like Book Eloise, she has guts, & she knows what she wants. And watching her grow up throughout the book is inspiring. And stubborn Eloise becomes her mother by the end, I LOVE IT! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: War

terrywho's review against another edition

emotional funny relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I actually enjoyed this book way more then I ever thought I would. From all I had heard about it thought it was going to me my pest favorite of the series and it turns out it really isn’t. 

I didn’t love Eloise and Philip as a couple, and they’re nowhere near favorite one (Hyacinth and Gareth my beloveds 😍) but I did like how this book feels a lot more “real” than all the others. It’s quite a bit different in tone from the other 7 bridgerton books but I don’t mind a more grounded story. Even though I’m the first one to look to be swept off my feet by a romance novel the slower pace of this two was a welcome change after 10 days of anything but slow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent